Summary

In the beginning was the big bang; then, hundreds of millions of years later, the universe was full of galaxies. This week, astronomers report taking another step into the unexplored time in between: They have imaged the earliest galaxy yet, dating from just 700 million years after the big bang. The galaxy—one of dozens imaged in a Hubble Space Telescope survey designed to pick up faint, distant galaxies—is aglow with hot, newborn stars, the researchers say, pointing to a rate of star formation that they estimate to be a hundred times that of the modern Milky Way. The find may offer a glimpse of an unexpected period of frenetic star birth in the early universe.

Earliest Known Galaxy Formed Stars at a Breakneck Pace

By Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

Science25 Oct 2013 : 411

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have imaged the earliest galaxy yet, dating from just 700 million years after the big bang, and conclude that it was forming stars at a furious rate 100 times that of the modern Milky Way.

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Earliest Known Galaxy Formed Stars at a Breakneck Pace

By Yudhijit Bhattacharjee

Science25 Oct 2013 : 411

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have imaged the earliest galaxy yet, dating from just 700 million years after the big bang, and conclude that it was forming stars at a furious rate 100 times that of the modern Milky Way.